Shocking moment as a murder suspect escapes Oregon courthouse after security agents untie him
Shocking surveillance footage shows the moment a murder suspect simply ran out of an Oregon courthouse after deputies cut him loose.
Ed Villalobos, 28, was set to stand trial on Feb. 27 for allegedly stabbing his mother’s partner before stabbing an unrelated man just two hours later, leading police in a chase that lasted hours in 2021.
But when a deputy released both his wrist and ankle cuffs, as required by Oregon vigil laws, he got up, slid a chair in, and ran over, down the hall and past the Staff Only doors.
He did this after deputies left a clear and obvious escape route.
Police were only able to catch up with him after a two-hour manhunt when someone reported a man trying to break into an apartment.
Villalobos is now back in custody and will face additional charges for his attempt to flee.
Ed Villalobos, 28, was due to go on trial Feb. 27 for allegedly stabbing his mother’s partner before stabbing an unrelated man just two hours later
Shocking security footage from the courtroom shows him running off
Security footage from the Washington County Courthouse shows two sheriff’s deputies — apparently a man and a woman — leading Villalobos down a hallway to the first-floor courtroom where his hearing was scheduled.
Once inside, the male deputy knocks him down and removes his wrist cuffs, then Villalobos sits down so the deputy can also remove his ankle cuffs.
“When it comes to lifting the restrictions, that’s what Oregon law requires of us,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Department later said in a statement.
But as soon as the sheriff’s deputy is ready, Villalobos simply stands up, slides a chair behind the table where he and his lawyers would have sat during the trial, and starts sprinting out of the courtroom.
He makes his way through the door to the courtroom, with the male sheriff’s deputy following him a few feet away, the female officer in tow.
As he heads down the hallway, Villalobos widens the distance between him and the officers, who are still following him on foot, and appears to jump in front of a woman about to open the door to the outside.
Villalobos nearly tackles a man as he tries to get to the Staff Only door, which he slams shut behind him.
The footage showed a male deputy detaching Villalobos’ wrists
Villalobos then sat down so the deputy could also release his ankle cuffs, per Oregon law
When the sheriff’s deputy finished, Villalobo stood up, pushed into a chair, and ran out of the Washington County Courthouse courtroom.
It’s unclear when sheriff’s deputies lost track of him, but what ensued was a two-hour manhunt through the city of Hillsboro, where police closed off streets and even used a drone to track down Villalobos’ location.
After nearly two hours, KATU reports, someone alerted deputies that someone was trying to enter an apartment in the 300 block of Southeast Fourth Avenue.
The owner said no one was allowed inside, but when officers searched the house, they found Villalobos hiding in a closet under a blanket.
He was subsequently taken back into custody, sheriff officials say, and a grand jury indicted him on charges related to his escape.
The trial against Villalobos has now also been postponed to a later date.
He made his way through the courtroom door as the deputies followed
Villalobos managed to get enough distance between himself and the deputies as he ran
The murder suspect almost had an innocent bystander tacked as he pushed his way through the Staff Only doors to the outside world
He is accused of stabbing 33-year-old Artemio Guzman-Olvera, who saw his mother, in April 2021 and fleeing the scene in a car.
About two hours later, the Oregonian According to reports, Clackamas County Sheriff’s deputies working for the city were called to an attack on an apartment complex, where they say Villalobos stabbed 26-year-old Saul Antonio Ramirez Aguierre.
Aguierre was taken to hospital in a critical condition in the aftermath, but eventually survived.
About half an hour after the second stabbing, a police officer spotted Villalobos’ car and a police chase ensued.
At one point, the sheriff said, he stopped, got out of the car and ran.
But with the help of multiple law enforcement agencies, Villalobos was arrested and jailed.
.